Maxim, an extreme xeric semi-shrub of Tamaricaceae, is a constructive and dominant species of desert shrub vegetation (Liu et al. 1982; Wang et al., 2011; Bai et al., 2008). It is distributed widely on a large area of sand wasteland (Fig. 1a) and saline land (Fig. 1b) in arid and semiarid regions of central Asia from the western Erdos, Alaskans, Hexi Corridor, Qaidam Basin to Tarim Basin and Jungar Basin (from the east to the west) and forms the vast and distinctive landscape of the salt desert (Liu and Liu, 1996). The distribution of R. soongorica in desert in northwestern China is shown in (Fig. 2).
